News

December 21 2012

comments ( 0 ) view

Florida Attorney General ‘Just Says No’ To Medical Marijuana

Please find below a recent memo from Florida Attorney General’s office rejecting activist’s petition to reschedule marijuana for medical access. This is notable because Florida is a top five political bellwether state, with an aging population, NORML receives more requests from Florida residents than anywhere else in the country to reform local medical cannabis laws.

Unfortunately, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office has rejected a petition from the Cannabis Action Network to reschedule cannabis so that sick, dying and sense-threatened medical patients with a doctor’s recommendation can possess and use it legally. As often is the case at the state level, the Attorney General is deferring to federal laws and Congressional intent.

PAM BONDI ATTORNEY GENERAL STATE OF FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Thank you for your petition wherein you request that the Attorney General temporarily reschedule cannabis. I have been asked to respond on the Attorney General’s behalf.

Section 893.0355, Florida Statutes, delegates to the Attorney General the authority to temporarily reschedule controlled substances set forth in Section 893.03(1), Florida Statutes, by rule and addresses what factors shall be considered when making such a determination. The statute reads in part as follows:

(3) In making the public interest determination, the Attorney General shall give great weight to the scheduling rules adopted by the United States Attorney General subsequent to such substances being listed in Schedules I, II, III, IV, and V hereof, to achieve the original legislative purpose of the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of maintaining uniformity between the laws of Florida and the laws of the United States with respect to controlled substances.

The above quoted statutory language makes it very clear that when determining whether a controlled substance should be rescheduled the Attorney General must give great weight to the current drug scheduling under federal law. In addition, Florida law also strongly encourages uniformity in Florida and federal drug scheduling.

The Attorney General does not believe that it is in the best interest of the public for her to use her authority to temporarily reschedule cannabis, particularly given the legislative preference for uniformity with federal drug laws and the fact that cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under federal law.